Workers with Ennoviga Solar and Lightsource Renewable Energy are set to unveil the largest floating solar array in the world. The 5 year project was commissioned by Thames Water and the electricity produced by the array will go towards powering water treatment plants for London and surrounding areas.
The array has been built on the Queen Elizabeth II reservoir, which sits approximately 20 miles from London, and will have a top capacity of 6.3 MW, able to generate approximately 5.8 million kWh during the first year of its operation. The project is part of a pledge by Thames Water to become a more sustainable business by making its own electricity, their goal is to produce 33 percent of their needs by 2020 (they are currently at 12.5 percent due to operating solar arrays at 41 of their existing sites).
The array at the QEII reservoir consists of 23,000 solar photovoltaic panels atop 61,000 floating platforms, which are held in place by 177 anchors, the overall result is an array approximately 128.3 hectares in size (approximately 6 percent of the surface of the reservoir) with a perimeter of 4.3km.
Officials with the $8.3 million project have noted that floating arrays have advantages over those on land, one of the most prominent being the constant cooling provided by the water below. Floating arrays are also easier and cheaper to build, individual panels are placed onto their platforms and floated out to the main unit where they are simply attached and anchored, which makes adding additional panels in the future a simple matter.